Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to ultrasound based heart rate detection.
Description of the Related Art
Doppler ultrasound is a commonly used imaging modality for the medical monitoring of a patient. In this modality, either pulsed or continuous wave ultrasound signals are targeted at a blood vessel of a patient. The reflected pressure waves exhibit a Doppler shift which is dependent upon the transmission frequency, the angle of insonification of the probe, and the velocity of the targeted blood. This velocity information carries physiological information which can be used to diagnose varying conditions such as obstructions or reverse blood flow. Varying post-processing techniques exist in the frequency domain to isolate the signal characteristics of interest.